Darrelle Revis said Wednesday the Patriots’ offer to him wasn’t in the ballpark of what he was looking for. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Even though the Patriots didn’t pick up Darrelle Revis’ $20 million team option for 2015, the team still had a chance to sign him — just like every other team in the league — via free agency.

Ultimately the Patriots did make an offer to Revis, but it fell short of what he was looking for.

“Obviously I’m not going to speak to numbers,” Revis said on The Michael Kay Show in New York Wednesday. “But I had the option — the $20 million option — that they could’ve exercised and they didn’t. We tried to work on a deal, and the deal, we felt that it wasn’t in the ballpark of what we were looking for. We moved on and they moved on too. Had a great conversation with Bill [Belichick], and we moved forward just like they did. That’s how you look at it.”

Revis ultimately signed with the Jets for five years and $70 million, with $39 million guaranteed. Some may say Revis only chose the Jets because of the money he was offered. He said it takes both sides to agree upon a deal.

“Contracts are contracts. We all know that, man,” said Revis. “Both sides have to agree on the deal and the numbers are the numbers. If a team doesn’t want to pay you money, they won’t pay you, they will give you a lesser deal. If they want to pay you, they will pay you. Everybody knows that. It’s not just one side. Contracts don’t get done one-sided. They get done with both sides agreeing to the terms.”

Playing for the Jets for the first six years of his career and then being traded to Tampa Bay in 2013, Revis said he was actually surprised the Jets would be interested in bringing him back for a second time. It was a place he wanted to return to, a place he calls “home.”

“I think at that point I was surprised,” Revis said. “It was a lot of back-and-forth with the tampering, what Mr. [Woody] Johnson said. There was just a lot of stuff going on at that time. In free agency they were one of the teams that called. The Jets were one of the teams that called. It was a bunch of teams. It was the Steelers, it was Cleveland, it was the Chiefs, it was the Packers, Baltimore — I mean, it was every team as well. Guys were willing to fly down and meet with me.

“The whole situation was like I said, it will always go back to that is where I got drafted. That is where I felt most comfortable. That is where I feel familiar with. I know a lot of people in the building and I felt like for me it was time to come home.”

The Bills-Patriots division rivalry is sure to be taken to a new level with Rex Ryan taking over as head coach.

Like with the Jets, Ryan knows the Patriots are the team to beat in the AFC East and he and the Bills are not backing down.

“They’re clearly the team to beat and we’re coming after them,” Ryan told reporters at the AFC coaches breakfast Tuesday at the NFL owners’ meetings in Arizona.

Buffalo had one of its best seasons in years last year going 9-7, which was their first winning season since 2004. They also beat the Patriots in the regular-season finale at Gillette Stadium, possibly giving the organization some momentum going into 2015.

With the offseason moves the Bills made, along with the other teams in the division in the Jets and Dolphins, Ryan feels the AFC East is “the best in football.”

In his six seasons as coach of the Jets he went 46-50, leading the team to two AFC championship games.

“Oh my God, I was just upset to the point where watching it, I felt like I could have done something about the play,” said Harmon, a Rutgers safety from 2009-12. “At that point, I felt like I let my team down.

“To be honest, I thought the ball was down like everybody else,” Harmon added. “I thought the ball bounced off the ground. I was like, I can stop but I’m going to fall on him because I was moving too fast. So I just jumped over him and I took a peek around and he’s up about to run and I saw Malcolm. I was like, there’s no way they’re going to count that as a catch. But it was a catch. I have to give credit to Kearse for that catch. That was a great catch. But it broke my heart.”

2. Per the indefatigable Aaron Wilson, the Patriots are set to work out Georgia center David Andrews on Wednesday. Andrews was a three-year starter and team MVP for the Bulldogs in 2014, and while at the East-West Shrine game in January, practiced at center and guard. He’s considered a mid-round candidate, and stands at 6-foot-3 and 294 pounds. One reminder — now that the private workouts and visits have begun, it’s important to note that just because the Patriots are having a private workout or visit with player at a certain position, it shouldn’t be taken as an indictment of starter at said position. There’s lots of tire-kicking, due diligence and potential scouting information to be gleaned from workouts like these, and while Andrews could be considered a draftable prospect for New England, this doesn’t mean he’s a lock to hear his name called when the Patriots are on the clock this spring.

3. Free agency hasn’t even started yet, and the joint is already jumping in Buffalo. The Bills continued their offseason makeover on Wednesday with the announcement of the acquisition of former Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel. That move comes on the heels of Tuesday’s trade between the Eagles and Buffalo that netted the Bills running back LeSean McCoy. (For what it’s worth, McCoy has played in one regular-season game against the Patriots while with Philly, and had 10 carries for 31 yards and a touchdown, to go along with four catches for 30 yards.) When it comes to offseason deals, it’s important to remember the words of John Wooden, who said “Don’t mistake activity for achievement.” But at the same time, it’s hard not to notice what the Bills have done to this point in the year, which has included the pickup of veteran offensive lineman Richie Incognito. Should make for an interesting year in Buffalo, and could make them an early favorite to be the Patriots opening night opponent, something we alluded to here (second item).

Over the course of the season, it was clear that while Revis acknowledged his six seasons with the Jets were positive, the relationship with his old coach Rex Ryan was even deeper. In December, he acknowledged that he and Rex “have a lot of history,” and added it was “kind of sad” to see the situation Ryan was going through while New York circled the drain at the end of the 2014 season.

“It’s kind of sad for the position that Rex is in right now. But at the same time [the record is] something that they’ve got to change,” Revis said at the time.

“Me and Rex have a lot of history, and we all know that,” he added. “Some of those guys are dear to my heart and everything, but like I said, I’ve got to focus on the things that I am doing here and I wish Rex the best.”

In addition, Revis has no ties to new Jets coach Todd Bowles, and unless Woody Johnson offers him an insane deal (which is entirely possible, given the fact that it’s Woody Johnson) the idea of Revis back in Green and White makes little to no sense. Rex isn’t there, and most all of his former teammates who helped construct one of the better defensive packages of the last dozen or so years aren’t there either. You can’t go home again.

Instead, the Bills are a far more palatable destination spot for the cornerback, at least when stacked against the Jets. They have money, and Revis and the coach have a rosy history together. According to our pal Mike Rodak, Buffalo has $27.1 million in salary-cap space for 2015, as of Tuesday afternoon, the 12th-most in the league, and so they’d certainly be able to present a competitive deal. It’s entirely possible that some of that could change in the wake of Tuesday’s decision to trade for running back LeSean McCoy, but even then, the Bills should be in good enough financial shape to put together a package for Revis.

Jets head coach Todd Bowles doesn’t seem to be concerned with the Patriots. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

Former Jets head coach Rex Ryan loved to talk about the Patriots, and wasn’t afraid to let it be known he wouldn’t back down to the team led by Bill Belichick.

New Jets head coach Todd Bowles seems to have a different approach, as the new coach said Wednesday at the NFL combine the rivalry doesn’t mean anything right now.

“I don’t think it means anything to us right now,” Bowles told reporters at the combine. “Right now, we’re trying to become the New York Jets and we’re trying to become a winning ballclub. We’re going to concentrate on us. You can’t beat the Patriots in February. Just beating the Patriots is not going to cut it if you lose to everybody else. We’ve got to have a growth process of how to win while we’re winning and trying to win and beat more than just the Patriots”.

With New York coming off a 4-12 season, the Jets have a lot of things to worry about besides the Patriots.

Bowles said the team first off needs to come together as one, working together to improve on a rough 2014 season.

“I would say belief. Belief,” Bowles said. “We’ve got to get them to play together. We’ve got to have accountability. We’ve got to jell as a team. They’ve got to be allowed to let the coaches coach them and we’ve got to understand what our players can and can’t do. The faster we can get that done, hopefully the faster we can turn this thing around.”

It would seem the first issue Bowles will need to address is what to do at quarterback, and if he wants to continue with Geno Smith, who turned the ball over 14 times this past season. Bowles said ultimately he will need to sit down and see him first-hand in order to make any kind of long-term decision.

Although Rex Ryan is no longer coaching the Jets, he didn’t go very far as he’s still in the AFC East coaching the Bills, which means the Patriots remain his top competition within the division.

Speaking at the NFL combine Wednesday, Ryan was asked what it was like to see the Patriots win the Super Bowl.

“It was terrible, next question,” Ryan joked to reporters. “No, you know what? That was a great game, obviously a great game. I think it was anticipated it was going to be a great game. You had two outstanding teams, both of them really well coached. And, obviously, it was an outstanding game.”

The day of the Super Bowl a report came out that the Bills would be interested in acquiring Patriots star cornerback Darrelle Revis, reuniting Revis with his former coach in New York. Ryan was asked if he had any interest in the Patriots’ corner, and Ryan didn’t take the bait, as he didn’t want to get himself involved with potentially tampering with another team’s player.

“All right, now, I was waiting. I knew it would come from somebody,” said Ryan. “See, my first year, I would have done this and I would have swung at that pitch, and probably been fined for tampering or something like that. This time, no way am I going to talk about somebody else’s player, so I refuse to do that.”

Ryan also was asked about Deflategate, and if the accusations changed the way he viewed the Patriots winning the Super Bowl. The Bills coach said it shouldn’t take away from the win, as the team earned it.

“I think they earned the Super Bowl, period,” he said. “That’s the way I’d see it.”